To Protect and Serve Ch. 12

"Is gonna need a lot more space than we can provide up here," she said begrudgingly.

"Sir --" Clara started to say, actually looking a bit flustered.

"And I was going to send Clara with you as well, to bolster you magical defenses and . . . well, splitting her and Shamira up at this point might prove hazardous to my health."

Clara grinned at him and took Shamira's hand. "You are wise beyond your years."

"Once Banshee is better established, I will call my household home so she can develop her own, though she is now and always will be my first child. Leaving home for the first time can be hard, but it can also be rewarding."

Shamira glanced at the Representative, who was looking like a proud grandmother. A really, really hot, proud grandmother. Everyone in the house stepped forward to hug Banshee and congratulate her on her impromptu promotion. When Shamira hugged her, they held on for a little bit longer.

"So you aren't going to be our . . . you know, vampire? Anymore?" Arthur asked when Shamira broke free of the mob.

"Crap! I didn't even think --"

Banshee walked over. "Would you consider coming under my employ?" she asked. "You have already shown yourselves to be worthy and invaluable. If Shamira is still concerned with bringing you over herself, I would be most willing to induct you both."

"Really?!" Kira asked excitedly, then looked confused. "Wait, what did you mean about Shamira still being concerned?"

Shane chose this most annoying opportunity to bring up a subject Shamira had been trying to avoid. "We believe that Shamira has skipped two stages at least in her evolution as a vampire. Blood witches have confirmed that her blood is that of a full vampire, capable of creating vampires of her own."

"Really?"

"Wait a minute," Shamira objected, "let's not forget that this is all hypothetical. You yourself admitted that I'm kind of an odd case here."

"But why not try?" Arthur asked.

"Because one of the steps to becoming a vampire is dying. If I try and fail, and --"

"I get it," Kira muttered. "There's no mulligan in that case is there?"

"No," Shamira said, seeing how appealing the idea of being a vamp was on her friend's face. "And I'm not willing to take that risk."

"But --"

"I'm sorry, I just can't. Hey, you guys seem to be doing better right? You'll still be around in ten years, and that'll give you time to figure out what you want to look like for eternity."

Arthur and Kira looked dissatisfied, but they accepted Shamira's logic. "I wish you hadn't gotten them worked up like that," Shamira said disapprovingly to her boss. "You know how I feel."

"And you know how I feel as well. You're right in saying that Kira and Arthur both have time now, thanks to your blood, but there are many who will wait and die in vain to be brought over simply because of those ancient laws that you've already demonstrated disdain for." He relaxed his tense frame, then, "Shamira, the Tribunal is willing to suspend those laws for you when they would not for me. I will bring over a dozen more. You could save two more, of your choice."

Shamira wrung her hands. "Shane, if I do this and they die, I'll do more than blame myself. You KNOW I'll be mad at you and the Tribunal for putting me through this."

"And I am so confident in you and your power that I would risk the wrath of a dragon."

Shamira walked over to where the Thorn-Tail was sitting, anxiously awaiting his alpha to comfort him some more. The two other pale things may smell like her and the little dragons could give comfort, but Shamira was the authority. Even when she was not communicating with its young mind, her presence was obviously calming and comforting. A weight seemed to be returning to Shamira's shoulders.

"This is just so hard," she said in a whisper, trying not to let the young one sense her distress. "Shane, I can barely take care of myself. Now I've got two babies that I barely understand that I'm responsible for, and you want me to try and make vampires? I know it's a broken record, but I kind of suck at being a vampire."

"I think you don't give yourself enough credit," he replied soothingly, placing his hands on those rippling shoulders and slowly massing some of her stress away. "At least consider it. I'll work with Archimedes, and see if we can find ways to make things a little less hectic for you. Between your Renfields and the . . . Smaller Dragons," he added, kissing Shamira's neck lovingly, "we should be able to give you more time to catch up on other things. It will be a while before Banshee is ready to establish a permanent estate down in Savannah."

She stroked her young charge's scaled head, then looked for Archimedes. "Where do you think this guy came from?" she asked. "What part of the world?"

"Skeletal remains were found of similar species throughout what we now call Europe. The first were found near Scotland."

"So maybe a Scottish name? What's that old language of theirs?"

"Gaelic."

"Yeah. Something Gaelic. And the Sea Serpent is from all over I'm taking it, so . . . hey, maybe name him after the Midgard Serpent? How did you pronounce that?"

"Jörmungandr." Archimedes smiled. "A fine name indeed."

"Hey what's the Gaelic word for fire?" she asked, watching a wisp of smoke unfurl from the young one's snout.

"Aodh."

"Is there anything you don't know?"

"Maybe.

Shamira grinned. "Aodh and Jörmungandr ," she said again. At least she'd finally gotten around to naming them.

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That weekend . . .

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"So that's pretty much been my life," Shamira finished. She had just recounted her recent life-changes to an already shell-shocked sister, who every now and then just asked Shamira to stand back up just so she could assure herself that the paralysis was gone.

Samantha's eyes drifted over to the the dragon Aodh, who seemed to just as curious about her as she was about him. He managed to be around constantly, so much "underfoot" that he was almost cat-like. He was obviously beginning to understand spoken words. "Don't put your nose there," was a phrase he had learned quickly, because Shamira thwacked him hard when he went sniffing people in inappropriate places. Katar had curtailed such admonishments a bit by reminding her that this was how dragons investigated things.

"He's just so . . . big!" Samantha said happily, then walked over and let the dragon sniff. Aodh made a rumbling noise to indicate his happiness, which a mother like Samantha could detect instantly and was pleased by.

"I guess you smell enough like me that he knows we're family," Shamira said with a smile. Her sister was in her element in times like this. Okay, maybe the kid was a little bigger that Shamira's nephews, but it was an intelligent life form and a child. Therefore, Samantha would dote on it.

"He's just a big sweetie, yes him is!" the sister replied, rubbing her hands over his muzzle. "My God! Do dragons need vets?"

Shamira shook her head. "They're smart or smarter than people and can live hundreds of years. I think they'll need their own doctors, not veterinarians." Samantha did not appear to be listening, as she had already begun a cursory investigation, checking the eyes and the teeth.

Aodh thought it was all great fun, as if he were being preened. "I think Jörmungandr wants a turn," she said, seeing that the Sea Serpent had poked his head over the edge of the pool and was making a clicking noise from his throat. Samantha moved over and reached her hand out to pet the watery serpent, and Jörmungandr accepted the attention for a moment before retreating to the safety of the water.

"Can I go in there with him?"

"I don't know. I guess it would be safe, though Aodh will probably want to go swimming as well."

"Swimming sounds nice," Clara said as she walked over to where the sisters were sitting. She had wanted to give the two a chance to catch up, but it seemed that things had settled down a bit. "Why not go out to the pond? It's big enough for everyone."

"Can he go out there?" Samantha asked, looking at the pool.

"He can breathe air just fine, and he'll just slither on out there," Shamira replied. "He's done it before. He seems to like fresh water from time to time. We've added a ton of salt to the pool."

"I'm for it. Anyone got suits?" Samantha asked.

Clara grinned. "Is clothing really necessary?"

"You're not seriously suggesting we go skinny dipping?" Samantha laughed. "That's so . . . high school!"

Shamira raised both eyebrows. "You're not just trying to see my sister naked, are you?"

Clara grinned bigger and shrugged. "I promise to keep my hands off of her." She kissed Shamira not-so-innocently on the lips. "For now."

Samantha gave Shamira a questioning look. "She's not serious, is she?"

"I don't think she'd actually make a pass at you," Shamira said. "At least not while she's dating me." She left out the fact that Samantha was not a submissive member of Shane's house and that if she were, Shamira's girlfriend might very well bang the crap out of her. Shamira just shook her head and headed outside.

Several hours later, they were all quite thoroughly soaked, exhausted and entertained. And for Shamira, this time it had not involved sex. She strode out of the pond, water glistening on her tight skin and flowing down her carved body.

"Great," Samantha muttered, turning the other way to see a smiling Clara. "Now she's just showing off."

"Mama likes," the vampire crooned.

"You know she used to be ashamed of that body?"

"We kind of beat that out of her," Clara finished. If the sister only knew she was not kidding.

Suddenly, the Thorn-Tail scurried to the top of the bank and started looking (not "looked") around.

"What is it, Aodh?" Shamira said, almost afraid to approach considering the agitated manner in which the youngster was swinging his tail. "Clara --"

"Everyone out of the water," Clara interrupted, heading towards the bank. "Katar, get Jörmungandr out of the --"

At that moment, a wall of flame erupted around the pond with such heat and force that Shamira was forced to dive towards the ground. Aodh's tail was singed and he cried out, hurrying away and preparing to take flight. Another wall of fire shot up, crossing the entire clearing and cutting them off from the house at large.

"Who the hell --" she started to say, wondering who could have the audacity to attack such a highly guarded compound, but she did not have time to dwell on it. Her sister, her lover, one of her young charges, and Katar and several of his dragons were trapped inside, while Shamira and Aodh were caught between a flame and a hot place.

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" a voice boomed, containing a vile rage that Shamira had never heard before. It reeked of rot and waste, so much so that Shamira almost did not recognize it. Almost.

"Jonas," she growled, mostly to herself.

Burning shapes began to appear around her, humanoid but far from human. She could not see Jonas yet, but she could feel him, his very presence a malice carried by a brisk autumn wind. "Everything I worked for, everything I set up, every moment I waited, for NOTHING!" A ball of crackling white flame shot over her head, making her duck, but it was obviously not meant to hurt her. Jonas wanted to play with her first.

"You're a fucking idiot!" she shouted, preparing to transform. "You came here?! You know you won't make it out alive!" The flaming forms were getting closer.

"I'll turn you to ash before you can finish transforming," came Jonas's voice. "Yes, I know who you are now, and I remember you. You . . . we had you hanging like a side of beef and we let you go?!"

"Actually, I ripped your buddy apart before my friends came for me. Not that you'd know, since the only ones coming for you are the Wild Hunt." All the flames were rendering her Shadow Sight useless, and she had to find him. She started the transformation, letting the smoke pour out of her pores. Then a blast of energy flew past her and nailed Aodh in the side. The young dragon screamed and looked like it was going to take to the sky. Another bolt of energy clipped its wing. Shamira jumped between the source of the bolt and her wounded charge.

"You son of a bitch! He's just a baby!"

"He should be mine!" Jonas said, stepping seemingly out of the flames. His eyes let off little blazes of their own, and oh did they show how much he hated Shamira. "Lacroix was so short sighted. He would have been just sat around that little piss-poor excuse of a land for all eternity and whine about how Stapleton had stolen the big prize away from him. I hadn't been studying sorcery my whole life to be security chief to a weakling like that."

"So you hatch a plan to take over by getting him into so much trouble that we have to kill him?" Shamira was angry. She might be able to shift, but Jonas might seriously hurt Aodh. And she had no idea how her sister and Clara and the dragons were doing inside that ring of fire. "Samantha?!" she shouted. She heard some coughing and shouting, but she couldn't make out anything specific. "Let them out or so help me --"

"You'll what?" Jonas gave an evil grin. "The only way I stay alive in the long run is I make it so that people, even the Tribunal, are afraid of me." He pulled a collar out from behind his back, and Shamira recognized it as similar to the one she had pulled of Aodh. "Having the 'Great Moon Dragon' at my beck and call should help with that."

"There's no fucking way --"

"Put on this collar and swear yourself to me or I'll boil everyone in that pond alive, I promise you."

A chilling sensation crept up Shamira's spine. This son of a bitch had not only condoned but had seen her tortured, had betrayed his own lord, had been responsible for who knows how many magical creatures being bled out, and now he wanted Shamira to just hand herself over to him? The left side of her body started to warm up, and she dodged just as one of the flaming forms lunged for her. Whatever the hell these things were, they served Jonas.

She lashed out instinctively, feeling a solid core to the thing before the burning sensation became too much. She held her arm with its blackened skin close to her body, grimacing in pain as she moved away from the lumbering entity, but keeping herself between it and a terrified and angry Aodh.

"Put on the damn collar and I'll let the others live," Jonas reiterated. "I'd really rather not be here when the Wild Hunt realizes that I'm not where they think I am, and I know your friends in the barn --" He stopped when he heard thunder and saw a bolt of lightning in the sky. That same sky had been clear earlier that night.

'Where did all the clouds come from?' Shamira wondered. Someone, one of her friends, must be up to something. She had to give them more time.

"How do I know you'll let them go?" she shouted. She grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it with bullet-like speed towards the nearest of Jonas's fiery servants, making it take a step back but only for a moment.

"You do what I say and pray that I'm a man of my word," Jonas snarled. He glanced around, looking for something . . . Shamira could not tell what. His eyes finally rested on the flaming ring surrounding the pond, and his mouth formed an unflattering sneer. Someone in there was doing something Jonas did not like. Shamira almost smiled, knowing it had to be Clara. The shaman had power over nature and the ability to maintain the balance. Jonas had brought fire, so Shamira's girlfriend was going to bring rain.

"Fucking red-skinned bitch!" Jonas growled.

"Big mistake," Shamira said, lunging forward. Jonas turned in time to avoid part of her charge, but not enough so that she did not clip him a little. He staggered off to the side and lost his grip on the collar. He looked like he wanted to pick it up, but realized it would not be a good idea to take his eyes off of his opponent again.

"She hears that kind of racial slur, and you'll be lucky if I kill you first."

"You might want to listen to reason," he said, his eyes glowing and the flames around the pond grew higher.

Shamira heard screaming from inside the fiery circle, and she heard Aodh cry out in pain as the flaming forms moved closer to him. She stared at him with more hatred than she had ever felt before. Then, the rain came. And boy, did it ever come with a vengeance. The flames around them were magical in nature, but so was the water that poured down from the sky, drenching only a few hundred acres of North Georgia forest and nothing else.

Gaps were appearing in the wall of fire that had separated the barn from the field of battle, and Shamira's allies started popping through. Reaper opened up on one of the flaming enemies with a high pressure water hose. Shamira liked the ingenuity. Sebastian leaped through another gap and started firing his handgun, slowing another enemy down but not killing it. A pickup truck came hurtling through an opening and ran over a third fire creature, then Bunny got out of the cab and ran like hell before the whole thing exploded.

"You . . . lose," Shamira said. Her eyes tried to move to Jonas' right in response to something teasing her peripheral vision, but they shot back of their own accord. There was nothing out there. 'But I could have sworn --'

Jonas' eyes were wild now. He grabbed the collar from the ground and lunged forward with uncanny speed, intending to put the collar on Shamira by force if necessary. He extended his hands with the device.

Shamira did not see the blow come. All she knew was that Jonas' hands just fell off, the collar still clutched in their grip. Jonas screamed and sunk to his knees. Suddenly, Banshee was standing beside him, looking down on him with complete disgust. She held a sword in one hand, and the parts not coated in Jonas's blood gleamed. Shamira had forgotten about the assassin's Mind Fog aspect that made those around her simply not pay attention to her.

"You cannot have her," Banshee said with ice in her voice.

The flames all began to die down, and the fiery enemies seemed confused. Shamira finally allowed herself to shift, her body stretching and smoking and growing until the last Moon Dragon stood in the clearing.

"He is yours," Banshee said, looking at the vanquished foe kneeling on the ground.

Shamira's dragon jaws lunged forward and caught Jonas around the midsection, then she swung his flailing legs around to face Aodh. The small dragon recognized the smell of the man and remembered what had been done to it. Aodh grabbed those legs with its mouth, and the two dragons ripped the would-be conqueror in half.

"That," started a voice from the pond, "was intense!" Samantha stood naked in the water, watching her sister eat a vampire. She looked a little . . . shocked. Shamira looked at her sister who had just been put in mortal danger because of her proximity to the dragon-vamp, then at Aodh, which she had failed to protect. Even now, the young dragon was winding its way around Shamira's feet, trying to take comfort from her.

* Samantha, are you okay? *

Samantha blanched. "My sister just . . . ate that . . . oh dear," she said, then did what most sensible human women would do in her situation. She passed out. 'I suck at being a dragon!' Shamira thought again angrily. And then she saw Clara floating face up in the water, and her giant heart almost broke. She reached out with a giant claw to lift her lover from the water, but she started to move towards the show, propelled by an unseen force. Smaller dragons started poking their heads up above the water to look about, but it was Jörmungandr who was pushing Clara. A quick scan of the beast's mind showed that it did not understand exactly why Clara was important, only that she was important to the great beast.